Thursday, March 3, 2011

Funny Irony

Funny irony I've noticed lately: the farther away from actually being a doctor, the greater your desire to be seen as one*. The longer you've actually been a doctor the less you want to be identified as one.

This has been seen with the first years who are wandering around campus with their stetho's around their necks while doing BP checks for charity. Really, do you have to keep it there while you aren't even doing BP's? No. It just makes you look like a douche to those of us that are old, bitter, jaded have been around the healthcare block a few times.

I suppose it isn't as bad as scubs at the gym though, that takes the cake.

In social/public situations many of my doc friends either lie completely about their profession (common substitutes are 'computer guy' and 'video store clerk') or really downplay it. And guaranteed, on a flight they'll shrink to just below their tray table when the announcement overhead asks if there is a doctor on the plane.

I find it all very amusing.

*Or greater desire to be seen as a medical student.

7 comments:

Here here, I second that! I'm a nursing student and the other morning after skills lab my friend/co-student were heading down to the cafeteria and we dropped all our books off at the locker first, when I reminded her that she was still wearing her stethoscope she said "that's okay I'll just wear it". Hahaha that made me laugh, she didn't need to wear but chose to for the look I'm guessing.

As for answering that page on a plane...my "snakes on a plane" incident (http://callmenurse.blogspot.com/2010/05/snakes-on-plane.html ) didn't encourage me to ever want to volunteer again ....not that I wouldn't help out if they were really in dire straits ever again...but it just wasn't pleasant.

Also a plus going incognito - it's not fun in public when everyone goes into great detail about every last little ache and pain that they have when they find out you are a person with a medical background. I really don't want to hear it. Especially after 35 years in the profession. Call me jaded, but there are people actually paid to listen who actually are qualified to address the issues at hand...

I laughed at the "computer guy" comment. My husband is a software developer and he tells people he is a garbage man at parties so they won't ask him to fix their computer.

I gave up my nursing license to stay home and raise our kids a few years ago. I usually get berated for giving up my license and then in the next breath that person will then tell me they could never do what I did. They will still show me their scars. Sigh.

1) There was a rumor going around that some of my classmates had gone to a club wearing their white coats. There are some people who that wouldn't surprise me in the slightest. [And I've met two of the scrubs-at-the-gym guys]

2) My strategy if I've been outed as a medical student, is to let the person tell their story, and then stare them straight in the eye, and deadpan "I think you discuss this with your primary healthcare provider". Repeat until the message sinks in.

I had a classmate who kept her stethoscope on her rear view mirror while driving. She hoped for attention from strangers as well as a chance to get out of speeding tickets. Never mind that hanging a large dangling item from a rear view mirror is a ticketable offense in the state where we attended school.

I keep my stethoscope in my coat pocket if there's any room at all. The around-the-neck approach is a common cause of neck & shoulder muscle dysfunction among med students & nurses. A heavy white coat can have a similar but less pronounced effect.

Currently Reading

"I cannot rest from travel; I will drink Life to the Lees. All times I have enjoyed Greatly, have suffered greatly, both with those That loved me, and alone; on shore, and when Through scudding drifts the rainy Hyades Vext the dim sea. I am become a name; For always roaming with a hungry heart..." Lord Tennyson